Last bell rings at Partridge Grade School, 'a special place'

Thursday

PARTRIDGE - The Partridge Grade School student body of 45 members received its final homework assignment Wednesday morning at the school closing its doors for good:

“Make us all Husky proud,” said teacher Gayle Delzer, who taught combined kindergarten and first grade this year.

One by one, the teachers at Partridge Grade recognized their students for their achievements during the annual awards assembly held on the last day of school. Parents, grandparents and younger siblings joined the students sitting on the gym bleachers.

The morning proved more emotional for the teachers than the children. The grownups held tissues in their hands and wrestled to steady their voices. The children were excited to collect ribbons and pins at the assembly and knew that lunch would be a picnic on the playground.

“My little ones, they are just anxious for summer,” Delzer said. They don’t really realize that when they head back to school in August, it will be to a different school and new classmates, she said.

Teachers and staff who came to Partridge tended to stay. Valerie Hornbaker spent 31 of her 34 teachers of teaching at Partridge. This year, she taught a combined fifth and sixth grades.

"This was a Super Bowl, and we got the win,” Hornbaker told her students. “You have made teaching pure joy.”

Because Partridge Grade School is a K-6 building, Principal Delon Martens recognized the graduating class of sixth graders. Winning the Citizenship Award was the lone girl in the sixth grade class of seven students, Sabrina Bontrager.

“I love the building and the people who work in the building,” Bontrager said after the assembly.

Sixth-graders will advance to Haven Middle School in August, but for younger students at Partridge, their paths will diverge. A number of them will go to Haven Grade School; a smaller number will go to Haven USD 312’s other remaining elementary school, Yoder Charter School. Some students will go to neighboring school districts, including Pretty Prairie, Nickerson-South Hutchinson, and Fairfield. One mother told The News they hadn’t decided on a school yet, but it wouldn’t be in Haven USD 312.

“Partridge is a special place,” said Kari Jacques, who has two children in Partridge Grade School this year. She said she was just thankful four of her children had that opportunity.

At the assembly, teachers repeatedly expressed gratitude for having been at Partridge and thanked parents for their support during the year. Attempts to convince the school board to keep the school open failed in November 2017, when the board voted 5-2 to close Partridge after the school year ended. The building is on the real estate market.

Partridge Grade School had only two children in kindergarten this year, but there would have been 12 students in the kindergarten class of 2018-19, Delzer said, disappointed that efforts to save the school had not succeeded.

The teachers were determined to make this year a memorable one for the students. The whole school took field trips to go bowling and roller-skating. The student body also visited Hutchinson’s Historic Fox Theatre and watched the movie “Despicable Me 3” -- with popcorn.

Second-grade teacher Annette Mathias said photos taken of her students on the second day and again in May helped capture their growth. Teresa Enneking, who taught in a combined grades 3 and 4 classroom, noted that students “changed a lot in heart” during the year, too.

Martens, also principal of Yoder Charter School, is retiring at the end of June. Some teachers at Partridge are also retiring or are moving to other teaching jobs in Haven USD 312.

There was not another job opportunity within Haven USD for Partridge Grade’s physical education and art teacher John New, and he does not have a contract for next year.

Martens, a firm believer in the merit of small schools, rings a handheld bell on the first day of school and on the last day, too. He rang the bell to close the assembly and announced, “Class is dismissed.”

In Hornbaker’s nearly empty classroom after the assembly, a visiting Ethan Graber stopped by to say thank you. The teacher and former student hugged, both fighting tears. She congratulated Graber who just graduated from Haven Middle School.

Hornbaker, who is retiring, said former students have been coming through the school for the last two weeks.

“Do you know my address? Because I’ve got to keep up with your life,” Hornbaker said to Graber.

Graber said later he appreciated his experiences at Partridge Grade School.

“I call them family now,” he said.

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